Chapter 8 - THE SON WHO SURVIVED
Nathan led them through a maintenance tunnel beneath the station.
Detective Ruiz and her team reached the building minutes later.
Claire wanted Nathan arrested.
Ethan wanted answers.
Nathan provided both before anyone asked.
“Eleanor used my name to transfer money.”
“She used my medical records to hide Victor.”
“She used my face because no one remembers a dead child.”
Ethan studied the brother he had never known.
“Did you shoot at us in Baltimore?”
“No.”
“Did you kidnap Sophie?”
“No.”
“Did you impersonate a police officer?”
“Yes.”
Detective Ruiz handcuffed him.
“Then you can continue explaining at the station.”
Nathan did not resist.
“You can arrest me.”
“But Eleanor will reach the mountain house before dawn.”
Claire stepped closer.
“What mountain house?”
“The original Hawthorne estate.”
Ethan shook his head.
“That property burned down before I was born.”
“The main house burned.”
“The underground shelter survived.”
Nathan looked directly at Ethan.
“Your father built it during the Cold War.”
“Eleanor converted it into a private prison.”
Claire’s face went pale.
“That is where she took me after the clinic.”
Nathan nodded.
“You escaped through a drainage tunnel.”
“How do you know?”
“I opened it.”
Claire stared at him.
“You helped me?”
“I could not show you my face.”
“Eleanor believed I was still loyal.”
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“Were you?”
Nathan looked at him.
“I spent twenty years pretending to be loyal so I could find proof that she killed our mother.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Our mother died from a stroke.”
“She died from an overdose of medication Eleanor placed in her tea.”
“You have proof?”
“Claire has it.”
Claire thought about the memory card inside Sophie’s rabbit.
“The files?”
Nathan nodded.
“Your mother kept an audio diary.”
“Victor copied it before Eleanor discovered what he was doing.”
Detective Ruiz tightened her grip on Nathan’s arm.
“You expect us to follow you into the mountains based on a story?”
Nathan glanced toward the station entrance.
“You have less than four hours.”
“Eleanor intends to burn the shelter at sunrise.”
“Why sunrise?”
“Because demolition crews will arrive at eight.”
“She obtained a permit to clear the land six months ago.”
Ethan looked at Detective Ruiz.
“Can you confirm that?”
Ruiz called her office.
Two minutes later, she received the records.
The demolition permit was real.
Claire’s fear sharpened.
“Sophie is underground.”
Nathan nodded.
“And so is Victor.”
Ethan took a step back.
“My father is alive.”
“He was alive three days ago.”
Nathan’s expression shifted.
“Eleanor moved him before the gala.”
“Why?”
“She knew Claire was coming back.”
Claire looked at him.
“How?”
Nathan pulled a small tracking device from the lining of her handbag.
Claire remembered dropping the bag on the terrace.
Eleanor had known every place she visited.
Every road she traveled.
Every safe house she used.
Detective Ruiz removed Nathan’s handcuffs only after he agreed to wear a police tracker.
They left the station in unmarked vehicles.
Nathan guided them toward the mountains.
Halfway there, every police radio went silent.
The vehicle lights flickered.
A truck appeared across the road.
Grant Keller stood beside it with a rifle.
Behind him were six armed men.
Nathan reached beneath his seat.
Detective Ruiz drew her weapon.
Grant aimed directly at Claire.
“Eleanor said the child stays alive.”
May you like
He smiled.
“She didn’t say the same about her mother.”
